Lightning Lap 2017: BMW M240i

Lap Time: 3:08.0
Class: LL2
Base Price: $47,945
As-Tested Price: $57,631
Power and Weight: 335 hp • 3507 lb • 10.5 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Super Sport, F: 225/40ZR-18 88Y R: 245/35ZR-18 92Y

This car tells the story of weight bloat in the auto industry. C’mon, man: 3507 pounds for this two-door coupe? For the “little” BMW? If you’re wondering why a 335-hp turbo inline-six can’t get the car past 135 mph on the front straight or deliver anything better than an okay 3:08 lap time, look no further than the avoirdupois. Still, what this car does with its mass is pretty entertaining. The quick, direct steering actually makes it feel light on its feet, and the tires and brakes will accept multiple hard laps without dribbling away performance. The behavior is predictable and benign, the rear-end stepping out—and back in—in exact accordance with your throttle input.

As a track-teaching tool, this and a Mazda Miata probably rate at the top; you can learn everything you need to know about fast driving in this car, even if, at 0.94 g in Turn 1 and a humble 113.4-mph average up the esses, you’re not actually going that fast. Manual transmissions are becoming such an outlier in sporty cars that our pilots coming down from the faster machines had to adjust to taking a hand off the wheel. Suddenly you’re reminded of everything that used to be hard about track driving, from executing a clean heel-and-toe jitterbug to avoiding fifth-to-second miss-shifts to figuring out how to left-foot brake when your left foot is suddenly needed for the clutch pedal. It may be a couple of hundred pounds heavier than it should be, but the M240i takes you back for a refresher in a way that makes classwork a delight.